Tattered Gloves
by Big Meanie
Summary: The nightmare's not over...the blood hasn't stopped dripping...


Tattered Gloves

A/N: I was listening to _Burning with Anger_ from Resident Evil 5 when I thought of this fic. For some reason I pictured a feral or mind-controlled Knuckles having a bloody fight with an equally mind-controlled and/or feral Shadow. Alas, I wrote this. I'm not used to writing fights, but I hope it's detailed enough to earn a fave and possible review. It's obviously darker than the usual sweet and cuddly humor I usually write. It could be better in my opinion. Same with sexual scenes.

**WARNING: Character death.**

_The nightmare's not over...the blood hasn't stopped dripping..._

The village was dark, empty. It's inhabitants long evacuated or gotten killed off. The smell of blood and death linger in the air like clinging musk. The black hedgehog ignored the bodies of the dead as he made his way further into the darkness of the once happy village, the stoic scowl never faltered as he made his way through.

Unknown to him, he was being watched and followed. Sticking to the darkness of the dilapidated stone buildings and huts, the creature kept its sinister eyes on him, its gaze unwavering as it stalked the hedgehog intently. Shadow's ears twitched at a sound and he stopped in his tracks, turning his head to the direction of the sound with a intent glare of his own before dismissing the noise and continued walking. Few minutes later, a crumbling building behind him made the hedgehog whip around and unleash the bloodied combat knife he acquired while traveling what was left of Mobius. As the dust cleared his well-trainer eyes spotted a figure among the rubble and got down lower to get himself in a fighting position.

His eyebrows went up in a quick flash of surprise once he saw who it was.

It was Knuckles—scarred, bloodied and appeared to have gone feral.

The echidna's fur was heavy matted and missing in some areas. Clumps of his once vibrant red fur was stuck together with mud and blood. His gloves were ripped badly and the left knuckle on his right fist was exposed from the tip. It was odd to Shadow that Knuckles was clad in a bloodied, torn off-white tank top and baggy black denim shorts, but that's none of the hedgehog's concern—the killer look in the echidna's eyes as if he's been possessed by Satan himself was what concerned him most.

Knuckles fell like everyone else—he fell victim to the one thing that destroyed Mobius: the mysterious strain of virus only Shadow was immune to.

"Knuckles!" Shadow's deep voice cracked like a whip in the silence as he stared up at the mindless echidna. Knuckles sniffed the air and growled before jumping down just feet away from where Shadow stood. Fangs were all Shadow saw in his mouth as Knuckles held it open, bloody saliva dribbled out his mouth an onto his tank top. He didn't seem to understand the hedgehog who called his name.

"Knuckles!" Shadow yelled again. He wasn't friendly with Knuckles before the tragic events that unfolded, but to see an ally become a mindless creature was still heartbreaking to Shadow. He held the knife in a tighter grip as Knuckles took a wobbly step forwards before nearly falling backwards. He made grunting noises that made him sound zombie-like as he hissed at the unaffected hedgehog.

"Don't make me do this echidna!" Shadow growled out. This made Knuckles growl before unexpectedly charging at him in a rush. Shadow teleported out of the way and watched as Knuckles punched the bloody ground before turning around. Shadow knew there was no other way around this and dropped to all fours and bristled his spines before turning himself feral at will. Shadow didn't enjoy turning himself into a bloodied beast to fight others, but Knuckles—even when he was normal—wasn't the type to start a fight and not finish it. Shadow lunged for the echidna, digging his fangs into fur before sinking into the flesh of his shoulder.

Knuckles roared and struggled to get the hedgehog off him. Shadow repeatedly bit him until he was flung off. He barrel-rolled into the dirt getting himself dirtier than he already was but he didn't care, he hissed at Knuckles and the echidna returned the aggressive act and got on all fours to growl. He pounded the ground and charged again, but like the first time Shadow teleported away before he could strike him and used a Chaos Spear to strike the echidna from behind.

Yelping from the hit to his back, Knuckles turned as Shadow skated his way over to him to tackle him but Knuckles knowing what was coming, caught Shadow's arms and threw him into the air. Using this to his advantage, Shadow hovered into the sky to strike the dodging echidna with Chaos Spears before noticing him ripping out a nearby lamppost to hit him with. Shadow avoided the wild swing and spin-dashed off the poll to strike the echidna's face. He was thrown into the nearby building's wall as Shadow _'humphed' _and landed softly on the dirt. Knuckles grunted as he struggled to sit up, blood dribbled from his mouth as he stood upright and growled out. He was too feral to speak unlike Shadow who was still sane. He called to the echidna again.

"Knuckles! Snap out of it! It's me, Shadow!" All Shadow could do was yell. Every time he did Knuckles charged. He was a lost cause unfortunately. Claws, fangs and dust kicked up from all the fighting the Mobians engaged in. Knuckles' tank top ripped from a sleeve leaving it bloody and hanging from the armhole. His shorts ripped at the knees and ends while the ripped at Shadow's fur. Bodily fluids leaked everywhere until both started getting tired. Pushing him off with the little strength left, Shadow watched as Knuckles struggled to sit up and collapsed under the weight of his body as he groaned and growled. Shadow was out of breath, unable to get off his knees as he slowly reached for the combat knife and gripped it intently. Last resort was to kill the echidna. As Knuckles slowly rose to his feet, Shadow got his knife ready. The bloodshot eyes of the echidna met his own bloodshot eyes as Knuckles charged one more time. shadow didn't move; he stayed where he was just as it seemed that Knuckles was gonna punch him into oblivion, Shadow sideswiped him and kicked Knuckles' legs from under him causing him to fall.

The echidna roared in surprise before a swift kick with metal-lined rocket shoes collided with his left ribs; a sickening crack was enough to make someone wince at the sheer pain the echidna must felt. Knuckles growled. He was too weak to fight now. That blow Shadow gave him winded the feral Mobian into labored breaths. Shadow watched as Knuckles spat out blood. This was his chance. Shadow kicked Knuckles in the head forcing his snout into the bloody dirt and kicked him away, leaving his battered body to roll away from him few feet. Shadow limped over to the downed echidna, pulled out his knife and drove it through Knuckles' heart and ended the echidna's suffering.

After a long howl, silence surrounded the area once more. Shadow pulled his knife out the echidna's chest and humphed. Knuckles' eyes were wide open, that is, until Shadow respectfully closed them with bloody fingertips.

"In the end, another friend is lost." Shadow whispered to himself solemnly before carrying the deceased body of the last echidna and buried him just outside the village. Taking a wooden plank, Shadow carved Knuckles' name and the date of his death before solemnly leaving the village and continuing his journey to find what caused the end to Mobius. He was tired of burying his friends and having to walk away like nothing happened.

Little did Shadow know, that it was only the beginning...

A/N: Eh, it could be better in my opinion but whatever. Like I said, fighting ain't my thing but this fic was as random as the music that I listened to that inspired it. Hope someone likes it enough to fave and/or review.


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